Kuwait mosque bomber raised no red flags, transited Bahrain

The details released by Saudi and Bahraini authorities paint a fuller picture of suicide bomber Fahad Suleiman Abdulmohsen Al Gabbaa.

Coffins draped with Kuwaiti flags belonging to victims of a suicide bombing that targeted a Shia mosque in Kuwait on Friday, arrive to Najaf Airport. -AP

Dubai - The Saudi man who blew himself up inside a Shia mosque in Kuwait last week flew into the country after transiting through nearby Bahrain and had no background suggesting he planned to carry out a terrorist attack, according to Gulf officials.

The details released by Saudi and Bahraini authorities paint a fuller picture of the suicide bomber in Friday’s attack that killed 27 worshippers and wounded more than 200 in one of Kuwait City’s most prominent Shia mosques. A branch of the Daesh group claimed responsibility for the bombing.

The blast — which struck within hours of deadly attacks in Tunisia and France — has rattled largely stable Kuwait.

Fahad Suleiman Abdulmohsen Al Gabbaa

Kuwaiti officials have identified the bomber as Fahad Suleiman Abdulmohsen Al Gabbaa, a Saudi man in his early twenties who landed in the country just hours before the attack.

Bahrain’s Interior Ministry said on Monday that Al Gabbaa arrived in that island nation on a Gulf Air flight from the Saudi capital, Riyadh, at 10.40pm on Thursday. He remained in transit for two and a half hours before boarding a connecting flight to Kuwait.

Saudi Arabia’s Interior Ministry said the bomber had no record with security forces or any background indicating terrorist activities. It confirmed he left the Kingdom on Thursday bound for Bahrain.

An audio message accompanied by two still photos that was posted online and promoted by Twitter accounts affiliated with the Daesh group purports to be a final message from Al Gabbaa.

A caption below the clip calls the bomber a “soldier of the caliphate” and identifies him by the nom de guerre of Abu Suleiman Al Muwahhed.

In the message, the speaker vows to pursue fight against his enemies, particularly Shias in Kuwait, saying “we are on the lookout for you.” He also addresses Daesh group’s leader, Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi, telling him to “be patient and swear to God that we are with you.”

The group’s Najd Province offshoot, which said it was behind the Kuwait mosque attack, has claimed two attacks on Shia mosques in Saudi Arabia in late May. The branch’s name refers to the central region of Saudi Arabia.